To donate towards the preservation of the panda species, you can either: go onto the WWF website and donate online, or contact a WWF representative.

You can donate with master/credit card or cheque.

If for some reason you are unable to donate, you can still help out by sharing the information you learned previously in this booklet. The conditions of the panda sanctuaries in China are often hidden and forgotten. The WWF is working hard on ensuring everyone is aware. Every bit of effort can make a huge difference.

Donating:

The WWF (World Wildlife Fund) has several fundraisers and ways you can help. By going onto the WWF website you can find a tab to donate strictly towards the Giant Panda species.

What Can You Do To Help?

Pandas are one of the most loveable animals in the wild, their distinctive black and white markings are very beautiful and show a sense on variety in the wild. Unfortunatly, these beautiful bears are going extinct. Their population holding at a very low number.

One of the main reasons that the panda population have declined is because of its habitat destruction. As the human population increases in China, panda habitats are destroyed or taken over by development,. Pushing them into smaller, less livable areas. Habitat destruction can also cause food shortages. Pandas feed on several different types of bamboo that bloom at different times of the year. If one type of bamboo is destroyed by development, it can leave pandas with nothing to eat during the time it normally blooms. Increasing the risk of starvation.

Illegal hunting of the Giant Panda causes its population to decrease as well. It is illegal to hunt any endangered species. The laws to this have become much stricter in China, but some people still continue to do it. Perhaps this is because of the price of a panda skin on the illegal trade market.

The lack of fresh water may be another reason panda populations are decreasing. Many lakes and rivers in China are heavily poluted with toxins that are harmful to both animals and humans. The lack of fresh water makes it hard to supply pandas with enough water they need to survive, especially the babies. The WWF program is working towards providing more fresh water for China and pandas in specific. Although this is a great movement and many are involved, it takes money.

Some panda nurseries are in need of improvment and development as well. About 60% of baby pandas born in captivity die within a week. This is because of the lack of tools, medication, blankets, etc. needed to help the babies survive. In some cases, the mother to the babies passes away during, or shortly after giving birth to her litter. Leaving the panda nannies and caretakers to have to look after these babies and provide for them. With improved nurseries, this would be much easier and the amount of deaths would definatly decrease.

What Is Going On Today?

21. Panda researchers have to wear panda costumes to work with the cubs.

22. A new born panda weighs less than an iPhone.

23. More than 60% of pandas born in captivity will die within a week.

Facts About Pandas:

13. Panda fur is worth between $60,000US to $100,000US on the illegal trade market.

14. One Giant Panda needs about 2.5 to 4 square miles of land to survive.

15. A group of pandas is called an embarrassment.

16. Pandas do not like meat. They have no umami taste receptor so meat tastes bland to them.

17. Pandas have one of the highest bite forces of any carnivore.

18. Pandas walk with their front paws turned inwards.

19. Grown pandas have to eat up to 80 pounds of bamboo a day to meet their nutritional needs.

20. Scientists say that some people love pandas because they remind them of babies.

Facts About Pandas:

1. All pandas are owned by China.

2. There are only about 2,000 pandas left in the entire world.

3. Pandas are considered an endangered species.

4. 99% of a pandas diet consistes of bamboo.

5. The Giant Panda is part of the bear family.

6. A life span of a panda is roughly 20 years.

7. Out of their natural habitat more than 60% of male pandas exhibit no sexual desire at all.

8. The West first learned of the Giant Panda in 1869 when a French missionary received a skin from a hunter.

9. Female pandas are only fertile up to 3 days out of the year.

10. A Giant Panda spends about 55% of its life collecting, preparing, and eating bamboo.

11. Pandas have lived on the earth for 2 - 3 million years.

12. When a baby panda is born it is shipped by FedEx back to China to expand its gene pool.